In an interview with the 'Daily Mail' which was published in Australian newspaper 'The Courier Mail' the longest serving player of English Premiership club Middlesbrough FC talked about the big interest in Australia's football since the Socceroos managed to qualify for the World Cup 2006 Tournament.

In a country where football was not the king of sports for many years, Guus Hiddink's team has turned things around with their impressive performance in the Qualifiers and the Playoffs. Since Australia managed to beat Uruguay in the penalties and secure it's place in the World Cup Finals, the Aussies have been filled with pride about their national team and there has been an overwhelming demand for the Socceroos magic World Cup Finals tickets.

"We were only there for one day after the game and the whole place went crazy. We were absolutely inundated with requests and interviews," said Mark Schwarzer, reflecting the immense enthusiasm for the Socceroos in Australia.

"Wherever we walked people recognised us and I've certainly never experienced that before. Normally when you leave you're lucky if one or two people ask for a photo or autograph. We needed to start competing with the other codes and make people realise that football is a global game. Rugby league, cricket, rugby union and of course Aussie rules are only played by a select few countries and you can only play against so many teams."

"The game against Uruguay attracted the highest viewing figures for a single sports match and was the biggest event in the country since the Olympics. It was an absolutely enormous occasion and the whole country responded. It was incredible."

"Everyone has been waiting for such a long time and I was just delighted I was able to participate and do my bit. I made the save but it wasn't down to just one person but 23 in the squad," Schwarzer said.

He did not forget to mention his team's coach, Dutchman Guus Hidding, who is considered as the major success factor for the Socceroos. "He has brought an enormous amount of experience to the team and changed some things around, such as the habits of the players in the way we are together and there is quite a bit more discipline off the field."

"I think the key has been the experience he has brought and the respect he has already within the squad. He has instilled a work ethic and self-belief in our squad - and, as you can see, it has worked very well so far."

Schwarzer also spoke about his substitute in the national squad, Brad Jones who substituted him in Middlesbrough while he was injured. The reality is that he's probably the sixth or seventh option for Guus Hiddink, facing competition from clubmate Schwarzer, Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden) in the national squad and John Filan (Wigan, England) and Turkey-based Michael Petcovic are also in the queue waiting as is Sydney FC's Clint Bolton.

"Brad has done extremely well and he is progressing. He is putting pressure on me, which is definitely good because everyone needs that and wants to have to fight for his position. He is ready if I am injured or not available to step in, which is why Carlo Nash left and why our goalkeeping coach Paul Barron and manager Steve McClaren had such confidence in him."

Socceroos assistant coach Graham Arnold thinks Jones is a good prospect for the national team and has still a lot to prove. "Whenever he steps into Schwarzer's shoes he does a good job, it's good that we've got quite a few good goalkeepers and that we're quite strong in that position and he's one of the contenders," Arnold said.

"He's definitely a goalkeeper for the future, quite a number of the others in Australian contention are in their early 30s and their mid-30s and Brad's definitely one for the future. At the moment he's at a very good club behind Mark who is probably one of the best going around at the moment. He got age on his side, goalkeepers don't really hit their peak till the age of 30 anyway so as long he keeps on improving he's always going to be in the picture," he added.

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